


Half Asleep

by Sockbootoo



Category: The Themis Files - Sylvain Neuvel, 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia
Genre: Aged up characters, Aliens, Basically everyone is in here - Freeform, Graphic Description, Kind of Major Character death??, M/M, Mei will be the main focus for a couple of chapters, Or at least some of them, Quirks are still a thing, Robots, Serious Injuries, Themis Files AU, Then it will focus on Izuku, Warning: The population of Earth does decrease in this story, You don't need to read the Themis Files to read this
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-27
Updated: 2018-07-02
Packaged: 2019-05-13 16:36:36
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 11,274
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14752443
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sockbootoo/pseuds/Sockbootoo
Summary: Whoever made this beautiful robot really outdid themselves. The Hand is gigantic, larger than some of the buildings at U.A. It radiates power, an unstoppable aura with it's silver shine. Izuku feels himself gravitating towards the hand, but he doesn't see Todoroki mirroring his movements. He can sense The Hand trying to communicate, trying to say, "Welcome."Seventeen years ago, a twelve-year-old fell into a square sized hole finding a giant hand. Thus the creation of the Themis project, a group of people who decipher the origins and purpose of the hand. As time goes on, more and more people start to help with the weapon including many Pro-heroes, the principal of UA, and the entire class of 1-A. Of those students, Midoriya Izuku now has a huge part to play in this ordeal, which may or may not have him directly working with the massive robot that is attached to the hand.Themis Files AU





	1. Not a Single Day Goes by Where You Don't Cross My Mind

**NEW YORK TIMES**

Unknown Robotic Hand Found Thirteen Feet Under the Earth 

    By Samantha Powers

(Samantha Powers met with specialist [REDACTED] and Bibimi Kenranzaki to get the details on the strange hand protruding the Earth.)

    September 15, 2XXX

MUSUTAFU, Japan ー Mid-afternoon on September 2nd, a strange robotic hand was found three meters (around eleven feet) underneath of the Earth in a square hole. The hand was found by twelve-year-old Hatsume Mei, who fell into the hole at approximately 3:30 when she was coming home from school. The hand measures to be seven meters long (twenty-three feet), but pictures of the hand will not be publicized due to the strange way it was found. Scientists and Military members from both American and Japanese forces are baffled by the monstrosity of the metal hand. The hand is being moved to a US-Japan base in Okinawa, Japan for further testing.

    [REDACTED] describes the hand as, “...A smooth, steel gray. No joints are seen in the fingers or elbow, but is yet to be seen in motion. Blue glowing lights line the sides of the hand, including each of the phalanges. This hand is truly beautiful.” New York Times was unable to catch a glimpse of the hand, so the only account of its appearance is from scientists and specialists that are on the scene.

    For how the hand was found, we have the account of fourteen-year-old Bibimi Kenranzaki, a classmate of Hatsume who saw everything unfold. “After school, a group of my classmates surrounded Mei so she couldn’t get on her bike to go home.”

_[Why did they surround her?]_

“She’s been bullied in school for a while now, but I don’t know the reason why they have been bullying her. If it makes a difference, Mei did push her way through the group and got to her bike.”

    Kenranzaki and Hatsume both go to Aldera Junior High where they attend shared support classes together. There have been reports made by Hatsume about her bullies, but the school never took action upon them. Kenranzaki told New York Times the experience as follows, “I remember following them into the forest that was very far away from the school.”

_[Why did they continue to chase her?]_

“I don’t know. I know I was super lost going through there, but it looked looked like Mei was just as lost in the forest as the bullies. As we weaved through the roots and trees, we suddenly came across a clearing in the woods. That’s when it happened. At one moment, I could see Mei. Then BOOM! She was gone and a gigantic square hole suddenly appeared where she once was. I was so scared. I ran up to the hole to check and see if she was all right. All I saw was Mei’s body on top of this massive hand. The hand looked like it was made out of marble or plaster, like those Greek or Roman statues? But I wasn’t focused on [the hand] but on Mei. She was just limp. She didn’t move. I saw blood pooling where she was and…”

* * *

 

 

Eat, sleep, train, and school. Everyday it’s the same thing, but Midoriya Izuku is willing to do it for his end goal, a quirk. It’s been three months on the new schedule All Might gave him so he could inherit his quirk. It’s a pretty strict schedule so Izuku didn’t strain himself,  All Might has a set amount of hours per day to work on each individual task. But hey, rules are meant to be broken right? Training time usually lasts longer than what the recommended time is, only because he gets his homework done quicker than most people his age. All Might hasn’t called him out on it, so Izuku continues to train more than on the schedule.

After school is Izuku’s “homework time”, so he goes straight to his room after coming home; his mother doesn’t question her son’s hurriedness everytime he walks through the door. Inko knows she should talk to Izuku’s trainer about a compromise in the schedule her son follows, but he avoids the question whenever she asks. For now she’ll leave him alone, he needs to focus on getting into UA.

Izuku shuts his door and grunts as he pulls out his homework his teachers gave him. He hefts the work onto his desk with a great amount of effort, maybe he should be lifting these gigantic books instead of his weights. Following the schedule, Izuku sets his timer for his homework time, even though he’ll finish before it goes off.

"'Research five strange phenomena and give a logical explanation to why each happened.' Does this have any connection to the book we are reading?" Izuku says, mumbling into his paper. He knows his teacher likes to hint at the next chapter in his worksheets, but this seems a little out there.

Izuku right away searches for strange phenomena on Google, his books won’t have any information because theories aren’t facts. Most of them had to with aliens, but he did find some that didn't say anything about floating lights in the sky. But one of the articles did interest Izuku, Unknown Robotic Hand Found Thirteen Feet Under the Earth.

Unlike the other articles, this one has evidence, albeit hidden from the world. He searches for pictures of the gigantic hand but only comes up with an artist’s rendition. It isn’t a well known topic currently, everyone kind of forgot about it even though it was never concluded on what it was. Izuku glanced at his timer, 1 hour 21 minutes. “Curiosity killed the cat”, right? He has time to deep dive and find out more about this hand.

He feels like he’s been mindlessly scrolling through sites for hours. It’s the same thing over and over, nothing is known about the hand. He clicks the next link, ten pages down in the Google search. “What a load of crap,” Izuku says reading the article. This one claimed that the hand _did_ come from aliens and that the aliens still live here on Earth. They mated with other humans so that only their children were able to see the hand. Izuku shakes his head and moves back to the search page on Google. He’s looked at every site on here, there wasn’t much to learn from repetition of the same information. Well, every site but one. Wikipedia.

Okay okay, to be fair he was taught to never go to Wikipedia _ever._ Not even for a small project, it was ingrained in his brain! But here he is, hesitating his cursor over the link. It might have new information, or even a lead to another search investigation. Izuku makes up so many excuses in his head as he clicks the link. He quickly scans the “Contents” fold and finds…

Nothing.

Izuku flops back in his chair and groans loudly. Nothing, nothing! None of the headers said anything different from what he already knew. This was a waste of time, he wasted hours of searching for _nothing_ . But, he thinks, maybe there is new information in _the actual body of the headers_. He sits back up in his chair and sighs, he was giving Wikipedia a hard time. So he searches, and searches, trying to get a scrap of something to hold onto. Then he does. ‘With the relocation of the hand, the United States government funded the Themis Project. This project studies the internal technology and the date of the hand.’

Themis project, a lead. Wikipedia doesn’t say anything else about the project so Izuku types the lead into the search bar. _Brrrrring!_ He jumps out of his chair as his phone alarm went off. It is time for his at home training, but he didn’t want to leave his research since he is finally getting somewhere. Izuku bites his lip and turns off his alarm to continue searching about the Themis project. He can train tonight, he needs to take a break now and then, right?

The first two articles are the most helpful out of the others; the others repeat what the first ones say. Apparently, the project is located on the Okinawa base in Japan and was funded six months after the accident. The current director of the project goes by the last name Kurogiri, but will not disclose his first name or his identity. Also not publicly known is the names of the employees working on the hand. Izuku gets it, no one wants there to be a hostage situation. He’s sure there are secrets the public cannot know about.

So far, the Themis project has not made any of their findings public, but there are speculations that they have found more limbs. One person in Russia claims to have fallen into hole where a gigantic leg was found. But the next day it was gone. Another person says that he saw a man in a suit with a strange accent look at the leg the same day it was found. Unfortunately, the two accounts were accredited as lies for both men suffer from PTSD and schizophrenia.

In America, a family visiting their cousins in Montana claim to have seen military grade planes flying to a mountain close by. Shop owners have told tales of military personnel eating at their restaurants or buying strange items. One teenager said that he followed some of the people back up the mountain, but couldn’t get very far because they took Jeeps to and fro. He said he saw the mountain glowing faintly before he passed out from exhaustion.

The most interesting interview is of a woman who used to work for the Themis project. She said that the project has invented so many new tools to find more parts, but refuses to give the blueprints to hospitals. They could be used to aid medical enhancements to the point we could cure cancer. The labs have so much technology trying to recreate the mechanics in the hand, but have gotten nowhere. She was angry at them for not sharing the information found in the labs and quit the job immediately. The thing was, she couldn’t be taken seriously because-

“Izuku! Dinner is ready!” Izuku hears his mother and hurries to check the time. Six o'clock! Guess he should be training after dinner, Izuku thinks as he heaves a sigh. He’ll have to continue his search later. Maybe he’ll be lucky and his mother might know more information about the accident.

Izuku stretches as he gets up from his bed, "Coming!"

* * *

 

 

**Log Entry #1**

**Location: Unknown Military Facility on Okinawa, Japan.**

**Hatsume Mei**

 

_What is your name?_

 

What, no hello?

_Hello miss, what is your name?_

 

Well, that’s more like it! But you, _sir,_ already seem to know what my name is. So what’s the point in repeating the obvious?

_Why would you think I know your name?_

 

I can see the files in front of you. It literally reads, “Hatsume Mei,” right there.

_*papers shuffle*_

 

Plus, I don’t think I should be giving out my name to strangers.

_You consider me a stranger?_

 

You haven’t given me your name, so you might as well be a stranger.

_My name is classified for your benefit, Hatsume._

 

Why am I even here, Stranger? My first day here and I’m getting interviewed? I thought I already went through this process to get this job?

_I would like for you to think of this similar to a counseling session-_

 

I was already counseled for several years after the accident. I don’t need to be counseled when I’m working _with_ the accident.

_What do you mean when you say “the accident”? What was the accident?_

 

How do you not know? It was all over the news and media ever since it happened. Granted, after a couple of years people tend to forget all about it. Plus the American government wrote it off as another anomaly that no one should worry about. Seems like the public is stupid enough to believe that half-assed lie.

_I would like to know your side of the story. Since you were, after all, the person who_

_discovered the hand of the robot._

I’m sure you can just look up interviews from back then.

_I’d rather hear from the source._

 

Why?

_I’m your “counselor” for this project. Everyone has to talk to me about their health. If you remember your past experiences with therapy sessions, you may recall that the first day was a “get to know” day._

*pause* Fine. I was twelve when the accident happened. It was during a school day when my bullies tried to come at me again.

_What were their names?_

 

Dabi, Shigaraki, Toga, and Bibimi.

_I thought Kenranzaki was a friend of yours._

 

No, she lied. One of the many lies she told in her interviews when I was incapacitated.

_Please continue with what you were talking about before._

 

Well, my bullies surrounded me that day. They all laughed and pointed at my failed attempts at support items. They kept saying, “No hero will ever come to you for gear.” _I was fed up with it._ They were pestering me the entire day and I had enough. So I punched the two boys in the crotch and headbutted Bibimi. She fell down and left me the perfect path to my bike. So I rode away as fast as I could back to my house. I thought I lost them. I was finally away from those jerks.

_But they were still following you._

 

 _But they were still following me._ They sneaked their way to my neighborhood and pushed me off my bike. All four of them kicked the shit out of my bike so I couldn’t get away again. They thought I couldn’t get up, that I was too hurt to move. They left me alone while they completely ruined my bike. So I did the most logical thing I could think of, I ran away on foot.

_And you chose the forest to run to?_

 

Yeah, it seemed like a good idea at the time. Still think it was a good idea given what happened afterwards. I wouldn’t have found Alpha!

_But you were unfamiliar with the area. Why did you go?_

 

‘Cause it seemed like the best option. My logic was if I didn’t know where I was going, how would they?

_Seems like the opposite of what you should do. Usually someone goes to a familiar place so they could lose someone who is unfamiliar with the area._

Hey, twelve year old logic, ‘k? For all that it’s worth, it didn’t work. Those four chased me on their bikes, but it’s always harder to bike than run through a forest. They stayed on my tail the entire time and didn’t let up even though the roots were tearing up their tires. So I ran blindly through the forest, getting scratched up to hell, when a clearing appeared. I stopped in the middle of the clearing and allowed my bullies to surround me once more. Just as I was about to yell, “Fuck off!” I fell.

_You fell?_

 

Right into the ground beneath my feet. I think I fell four meters onto Alpha whom I can now call my new job.

_Can you describe how you felt?_

 

Nothing. I lost consciousness, so I only remember falling and hitting something cold and hard. When I regained consciousness, I was in the hospital and woke up from a two-week long coma.

_So today is the first time you will be seeing the hand since the accident?_

 

Yes and I’m so excited to see Alpha… again? Would it be “again”? When I fell-

_You keep mentioning this “Alpha” character. I was going to write it off as a form of PTSD from the accident, but the files say there hasn’t been a relapse in mental issues in years-_

 

The robot.

_Okay, but why do you call it Alpha?_

 

Because Alpha is the first letter of the Greek alphabet, duh.

_Are you insinuating that there is more than one robot?_

 

I don’t know. I hope there are more. I would like to add them to my collection of babies!

_Why do you think Alpha is here? Is the robot here for a reason that we don’t know about? What exactly is it?_

 

*pause* That’s the thing, _I don’t know_ . I have so many questions, but there aren’t any answers. Before the accident I wanted to become support tech for heroes; someone who makes the heroes weapons and so on. But after it I had a complete 180° in my thought process. All I could think about was _what is that hand_? Why did I land on the hand? Why did the hole appear after I stood on it? How long has Alpha been under there? Who left it? And who was it meant for?

_So you joined the military to specifically take up this job?_

 

Yes! Of course! I want answers and so does everyone else. I’ve waited seventeen years for this chance and I’ve snatched it. Plus the fact that I was lucky the previous General to the Themis project retired.

_You seem very excited to start your job. I will end this meeting short for your convenience, but I will hear more from you tomorrow._

Does Stranger have a heart? Is he secretly a tsundere, with a cold exterior but a warm-

_Please never call me that again. You will regret it later._

 

 **End Transmission** ****

* * *

 

 **  
** “Did you guys _really_ do that?”

“Um.”

Hatsume Mei rages as she runs her fingers through her hair. The two government agents sitting across from her shift in their seats. The three sat in Mei’s office that overlooked the bay where the military held Alpha’s body parts. _Plural_ , Mei thinks, it’s plural now. There’s not _one_ piece anymore.

“You guys failed to tell me that we have extra parts to the robot,” Mei says, raising her voice.

It was silent for a moment until one of the stupid agents mumbles, “You could’ve looked out your window.”  

“Ma’am, you do realize we can’t tell the public about this,” Agent #2 says. He frowned and tilted his chin upward, as if to challenge or belittle Mei.

“You think I’m dumb? I’ve been doing mechanics and tech for the military for years, I know what ‘public kept secrets’ are.” Mei snaps, “Media would’ve had a hay-day and the general public would be in panic because that hand was not a joke.”

Agent #1 scratches the back of his neck while #2 shuffles through the papers on Mei’s desk. In their short time in her office, they are making a complete mess out of her neatly stacked folders. But it wasn’t like Mei was going to do the same thing once they left her room.

“This project was kept from everyone. Even the original Director kept secrets from us-”

“I don’t think you’re getting it,” Mei hisses in annoyance as she massaged her temples. She was made for _robots_ , not for American government bullshit. Man, Okinawa had to be the base they moved Alpha to, huh? “I’m not talking about all the secrets the old guy kept from everyone. It’s the fact that you _stole_ these parts from other countries.”

The two men went silent and gape at Mei. She’s caught them, ensnaring them in their own lies they’ve told. Mei narrows her eyes as one of them starts to speak. Needless to say, he closes his mouth faster than he opened it. He peers up to his partner and straightens in his chair, “How did you find out about this?”

“Are you saying the _General_ or _Director_ of this project shouldn’t be allowed to know where the other three limbs came from? You know,” Reaching for her new nameplate, Mei throws it down on the front of her desk and gestures for the Agents to read it, “I’ve only been General for a week, but I am still the Director of the Themis project. I will know everything about Alpha and I have a right to know why you stole from other countries.”

She was met with more silence. It was almost deafening, but she smirks as Agent #1 bites his lip. The thing that they didn’t know was that she already knew why parts of Alpha were stolen. But Mei is sadistic and wants to see them make up excuses to benefit them. It wasn’t like their excuses would stop Mei from firing them anyways at the end of this meeting. She thinks their struggle was funny to watch.

“We didn’t know out men were stealing parts until we opened up the cases they were held in.”

“That’s a terrible lie and you know it. Why don’t you tell me the truth?” Mei’s eyebrows rose as she finished her sentence.

Agent #2 watches Mei while furrowing his brow. Oh, looks like he’s caught on to her little charade. “You already know why we stole them, don’t you?”

Mei breaths out a laugh and sits back in her chair. These men didn’t do their research before Mei took over the director position; they wouldn’t have been answering her questions with such apprehension. You see, this is the only reason why Mei trusts scientists more than her own friends. They get _paid_ to do their experiments and tell the results. They _can’t_ lie.

“Of course I know. I know _everything_. The hand was found here in Japan, so no real problem with stealing there,” Mei gets up from her chair and moves next to the huge window overlooking Alpha. “With the revelation of a robotic hand being found in the ground, it’s only natural to start looking for more parts. That way we can piece together this puzzle.

“The next piece found was located in the United States at Mount Cleveland Mountain in Montana. The right forearm and bicep was found connected to one another. When the arm was flown back, one of the pilots placed the arm too close to the right hand that was found three years prior. Surprisingly, the two pieces fused together to form a full right arm, kind of like a magnet right? What was found out about this accidental experiment is that once the pieces are connected together, _you can't tear them apart_. Now I do not know if people could add or subtract from the limb, but we’ll find out in all due time.

“But, there was no problem with flying this part from the Americans because the Themis project is a shared Japanese and American experiment. So far so good right?” Mei saw the Agents watching her every move. Okay then, let’s move this along.

“Well, as we all know, nothing works out like they do in the movies. The two most recent pieces found were located in Russia. The first part found was the left leg underneath the city of Kaluga, nine years after the arm was found. Russia had actually found the leg before we had, accidentally. During the construction of new apartment complexes, a bulldozer fell through a square like hole I had fallen through.

“Russia was contemplating on telling us about the leg, but their plan was to decimate our budget. But one of our government agents, conveniently staying in Russia, found out about the leg and Russia’s plan. So what did they do? _Steal_ the leg the same day it was found. I’d rather not go into the details of the heist because I’m sure the two of you know it by heart. But I’m sure it was you, sir, who should be credited with the plan.” Mei sneers at Agent #2. He bores his eyes into her, as if to kill her with his gaze. Yeah, like the government could kill Mei. She’s more likely to die from Alpha than them.

“All in all, the Russians didn’t know we stole the leg. Hell, they _still_ have no idea we stole it to this day. I’m sure they have their suspects, or they are incredibly dumb. Maybe they didn’t put two and two together that _we_ house the great phenomenon that baffles the entire world.

“The next piece that was found was the left leg, intact like the right leg, inside of Mount Elbrus. The part was found seven months ago from scanners that the lab put on the military planes.  And you,” Mei points to Agent #1, “Authorized a heist to steal the limb before Russia knew we were in their country. Also something to mention, the plane’s scanner only picked up the left leg. If there is more to this robotic body, why didn’t it pick up on any more of the pieces? Suspicious? Overall, the leg was extracted from Russia and flown back to this base where we now hold three parts of Alpha. Did I miss any crucial details?”

Mei watches as the two agents are now emotionless and out of their seats. After spilling all their secrets, this is when they get all “official” and hard to read?

“How many people know?” Mei whispers. She turns to the window and studies the diverse personnel hired for the project as they pour their knowledge and curiosity into Alpha’s limbs. It was disheartening to see her baby as a pile of metal stolen from other countries grounds.

“Just us three.” Agent #2 says. She sighs and spins back around to the agents, mocking them with her smile.

“I applaud you for keeping this a secret for so long and for not alerting the Russian government. That’s a feat most criminals can’t do these days!” Mei claps her hands together and laughs, “Now feel free to pack up all your belongings and leave the vicinity. Your swipe badges and codes have already been deleted from our system. You will no longer be able to get into here from now on.”

“What!”

“Excuse me?”

The two agents were somehow baffled by the fact that they were fired. Mei shakes her head at the complete idiocy the American government sent them; they have got to be the worst officials. She bounces happily over to her door and gestures for them to get out, “Yup, please leave! Tell your superiors I would like better leading officers. Thank you!”

Mei watches as the two storm their way out the door. She feels a hand grip around her bicep and is confused as of why #1 looks so exhausted. “You will soon learn that we did what we had to for your so-called Alpha. You will do the same things as us. There’s no right or wrong in what goes on here. There’s only results.”

Mei sees red. She rips her arm out of his hold, “Listen up, asshole. You two nor the past Director are in charge anymore, so I do things around here the way I like. I will not stoop down so low to become _a liar and a thief_. Please leave before I punch you in the balls so hard that you have to look down your throat to see your penis. Have a nice day.”

Mei slams the door shit and stands there for a minute to contemplate their meeting. How could this happen, was the world full of douche-bags? Mei could’ve handled that better, but she said nothing but the truth.

She takes in a deep breath of air and exhales all her anger from the two agents. Man, what a complete mood turn around from how she acts normally. She’s usually assertive and outgoing most of the time. She should take up some yoga class, she needed to learn how to relax sometimes.

The droning of the drills snaps Mei out of her trance. She walks back over to the window to watch the mechanics try to take apart the limbs. They were all so fascinating to look at, trying to imagine what the pieces would create together. The pieces are so humanistic, so no one knew if extraterrestrials left them on purpose. The three parts had the same color scheme, metallic silver with bright blue markings.

With the two pieces together, the right arm is a beauty. There isn't a single crease where the joints lined up. Past speculation was that this wasn't a robot, but a statue or memorial made by an artist. The drills that were used earlier on were unable to penetrate the surface of the arm, let alone scratch the surface. Later investigation found gears and unknown tech that might be used for defensive maneuvers. To see inside of the arm, the scientists invented a new x-ray device that could see past the metal encasing the gears. This used more Gamma rays but started to melt the metal around the blue markings. The glowing lights on the arm are thicker around the outside of the forearm. A blue horn-like hook protrudes from the elbow and may be used for close combat.

The two legs are almost exactly like human legs, except the silver color. There isn't anything special about the legs, but it was suspicious how they have the same muscle tone as a female. It is speculation, but the body of the robot would resemble a female-like anatomy. Both legs are fifty-eight meters in length; it makes Mei giggle at how tall they are. She would have to call headquarters to build a bigger building to fit Alpha when it stands.

Over the past seventeen years, there has been little to no revelation on what the limbs are or how they work. The tech is too advanced to figure out with limited personnel. Their crew is to stay smaller because of risks to safety and public knowledge, but they need more to speed up the process. Mei compiled a list of people, after visiting the lab and seeing the shortage of workers, to contact for the Themis project. Shit that's right, she still had to find new leading officers, and fast so she can keep the lab in check.

When she heads back to her desk to ask about new leading officers, she realizes the agents left her with the "truth reveal" to tell her employees.

"Fuck. How am I going to break it to them?" Mei grumbles. She holds her head in her hands and wishes for inevitable death to take her.


	2. Keep Chasing Fire

It’s been six months since Mei last heard from government officials above her. She doesn’t have another leading officer or any more employees. She may or may not be a little pissed. Only a little though, she hasn’t had time to be angry at anyone with how busy the lab has been.

Mei concludes that the scientists downstairs are capable of progressing the research on Alpha, but they still need more experienced personnel to help. Beforehand, she was too busy reading past files of the project to join them, only meeting them for a brief moment. It wasn’t until a month after her employment she had the time to help out; she was reorganizing her office from the mess she caused. When Mei walked downstairs for the “first time”, they were so thankful for another scientist to help them out.

It wasn’t like they are incompetent or have an  _ extreme _ desire for another employee, but they have their limits. This bunch is diverse enough to cover most discrepancies in the project… and it's the most interesting group she’s ever been in.

In total, there are six working down at the lab, not including herself. From what Mei’s gathered, they are the original people who work on Alpha. A lot of employees were dropped and fired for various reasons that Mei didn’t have in her files. How the government got them to stay quiet about Alpha is still a mystery. She doesn’t know how the old director found them, but, to repeat herself, they are  _ very diverse. _

Tensei Iida is considered the “smartest one” out of the six. He’s one of those people you could trust with anything, like a big brother (Mei thought this  _ before _ she found out that Tensei has a younger brother… she kinda wants to meet the boy). Tensei is the well-rounded scientist. He can do basically anything for anyone and knows a little bit about everything.

Anakuro Hirooki is the lab’s space enthusiast and studies the probability of the limbs coming from aliens. They are the sweetest person you will ever meet; they bring in cookies every Friday to bribe the others to get their work done. Anakuro only works part time at the lab, their other job is being a teacher over at UA. Plus the fact that they are also support-hero, Thirteen, Mei marvels at how diligent Anakuro is and how they still get enough sleep at night.

Then there are the other four, Yawara Chatora, Shino Sosaki, Ryuko Tsuchikawa, and Tomoko Shiretoko. Overall, they work very well together, each having their own specific jobs all revolving around one another. Yawara working with mechanics, Shino an engineer, Ryuko working with logistics (trying to keep up with Yawara’s demands), and Tomoko the I.T./computer specialist. They are quirky, always with one another; it’s fun to work with them. They call themselves the Wild, Wild Pussycats… Mei really does not know why. She asked the others and they don’t know why either, maybe one day Mei will ask the Pussycats themselves.

The seven of them actually work really well together. They haven’t found any new information about Alpha, but they have created new prototypes to find more of Alpha. They’ve left the limbs of the robot alone for about a week now, working on the new tech has been their top priority.

Tensei had an idea to program a small drone with an updated scan system to look for components like the makeup of Alpha’s limbs. The drone would be undetectable to the general public to not cause a panic, plus it could pass off as a toy if flown in an air base. But, they still had to figure out the materials Alpha was made out of. Yawara made the drone with help from Tomoko, for programming purposes, so when they are able to crack Alpha’s “code” they can send it out as soon as possible.

Shino, Yawara, and Tensei came up with a micro-bot (they liked to call it “Ragdoll”?) equipped with a camera and a scanner to put inside of the limbs. It worked for a while, until the lights around the outside of the robot flashed dangerously, and Shino had to pull out Ragdoll before it melted from the heat. They were able to save the microchip of the program, but the exterior of it was too damaged to go on.  

They had a small funeral for the tiny bot the next day. R.I.P. Ragdoll.

So, they haven’t been successful with their projects, plus many of the were still in the works. But, Mei is optimistic, with their failures they’ve learned what do to upgrade their tech. They will get somewhere in the next couple of weeks, Mei can  _ feel _ it.  

“MEI!”

Mei hears someone’s panicked shout from the bay along with a few other gasps and cries. Alarms go off in Mei’s head as she tries to scurry over to window as fast as she can. She sees her lab workers hovering around Alpha’s body, but the usual glow from it's limbs isn’t reflecting back on the employee’s faces.

There is no light coming from the robot.

“Shit, what happened?” Mei shouts as she ran down the stairs to join her crew in looking up at Alpha.

Anakuro shakes their head in awe, “W-we’re not sure. We were all working on our projects when Tomoko screame-”

“Oi! I did not scream!” Tomoko crosses her arms. Mei can see that she’s trying to look intimidating, but she can only be so intimidating when she’s only 163 centimeters tall. “I yelled at you guys to look out the window!”

“It doesn’t matter, Tomoko. We need to figure out why it changed.” Yawara says. She elbows her tiny friend and looks to Mei.

This may or may not be a long night for Mei, she thinks as she rubs her hand down one of the sleek fingers in bewilderment. After showing no progress for months, Alpha had to go and surprise them all. “Tensei, I need a full scan on the limbs.”

“It’s already been done, ma’am. It doesn't show up as anything different from when the lights  _ were  _ on.”

Mei can see Tensei typing away furiously on a tablet in his hands. She didn’t notice the cables that are attached to the arm, but they must be scanning electromagnetic pulses. “What hasn’t been done yet?”

“Nothing. We called you as soon as possible.” Anakuro says. They get called over by Tensei to run a diagnostic on the data he pulled.

“Okay, run all programs and tests toward Alpha.” Mei turns towards the lab entrance.

“Everything?”

She laughs with giddiness and throws back a smile, “I hope you guys don’t mind pulling an all nighter tonight!”

…

Twelve hours later and nothing is found.

Nothing.

Mei is on the floor of the bay sitting against one of Alpha’s legs, grease and soot cover her entire body. She hears the door to the building and watches as Anakuro’s eyes bug out of their head. They left earlier to welcome the new students into U.A., only to come back to the mess Mei and the others created. Mei waves Anakuro over and watches as they take in the environment around them.

She had originally been optimistic about the situation, but then three-o’clock in the morning came and Mei has become discouraged. The Pussycats huddle around Yawara, who has the pizza box laying on his stomach. Tensei, being the perfect scientist that he is, continues to work on the issue at hand.

Anakuro plops down next to Mei, “So, anything new?” Mei rolls her head to Anakuro. “I’ll take that as a no.”

“Not really. Nothing besides the fact that the lights keep turning on then off again.” Mei shrugs and sighs.

“What do you mean?”

“The glow-y things on the sides of everything? Sometimes they turn on and off. We can’t figure out why.” Mei says nonchalantly. “It’s not a big deal. We can only assume it’s a glitch.”

Anakuro sighs and wrings their hands, Mei has never thought about how different Anakuro looks from their support-hero self. Off with the baggy space suit and a lithe, pitch black figure is underneath of it. They still have their helmet on, so Mei can only assume it’s part of their body. Speaking of support-hero stuff, Mei elbows Anakuro in the side, “Hey, how was class today?”

She hears the Space Enthusiast hum, contemplating their next words. “Interesting. The new 1-A class are really going to be something.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Mei titters at her employee. No. They are friends now. These people are family to Mei at this point.

“Well, not to be a spoilsport for the Sports Festival,” Anakuro pauses. “But, these new kids are  _ insane _ . I’m not sure if it’s in a good way or not yet! There’s this one kid who is the son of Endeavor-”

“You have  _ Endeavor’s child  _ in your class?”

“Yeah! And get this, there’s a kid who’s quirk  _ breaks his own bones _ !”

“That sounds so painful,” Mei says, shuddering to herself. “I wish I was there right now for the kid. I could make some enhancements for him!”

As Anakuro starts to speak, Alpha begins to glow, yet again. Mei hears the drill Tensei has been using stop to check out the reaction. She groans and cracks her back, in another ten minutes the glowing will stop and the seven of them will grind on with research.

“Mei,” Tensei calls for Mei and gestures for her to join him. Mei gets up with a grunt and steps next to Tensei. “Have you noticed any pattern?”

Mei furrows her brow in confusion, what pattern? “There hasn’t been a pattern. The lights turn on and off on randomly."

Tensei squints at Alpha and huffs, “There’s a pattern. I can feel it. The lights aren’t random.”

“Tensei, there’s nothing causing the lights to turn on!” Mei says. She pats the leg and shrugs at Tensei. “How about you put the drill away for the night and we just go home and come back to this in the morning?”

Then just like that, Mei and Tensei both had a switch turn on in their heads.

The drill.

The drill was on when the glow came back. The glow stops when  _ nothing happens _ .

“It must be the noise.”

“No, it can’t be the noise.”

“The vibration maybe?”

“It’s a possibility-”

“You guys finally get an epiphany?” Ryuko speaks up. The other five members are behind Mei and Tensei watching as they speed through possibilities. Nodding her head furiously, Mei explains their small realization. They all seem taken aback, but the seven of them sit on the cement floor and bounce some theories they have with Mei and Tensei.

“The vibration of the drill against Alpha would be the most likely cause of why the glowing appears. The aggravation of the drill makes them unhappy.” Tomoko says. Shino shakes her head, but writes down the idea anyways.

“Robots don’t have feelings, Tomoko. They aren’t alive.”

“But what if this  _ was _ ?”

Sighing, Shino rubs her temples and explains, “It can’t. It’s only natural for the human mind to perceive something inhuman to have similar characteristics to our own. Just like how we anthropomorphize animals, or personify computers and cars.”

“It can still be a possibility, Shino.” Anakuro says hesitantly. “We don’t know the origin of Alpha. It may as well be an alien for all we know.”

Yawara claps his hands together to get the rooms attention, “I think the metal of the drill is reacting with the lights. Like how they reacted to the elevated Gamma-rays in that X-ray we did earlier.”

“It would be plausible if it wasn’t for the fact we have been using this drill for a while. Plus other tools that probably had the same metal components as the drill, or drill bit.” Tensei says. He’s shooting down everything his coworkers are suggesting, always having a counter to the idea. “But there’s also the fact that we’ve been using this drill for a long time before the glowing stopped. Why didn’t it stop then?”

“That is true. We have been working on Alpha for hours at a time, but how come it never stopped glowing even at night when we didn’t touch it?” Ryuko agrees.

“Was it the extensive amount of time we spent on it? It didn’t have a ‘cool down’ time between the work day and night.”

“There’s also the fact that we didn’t touch it for four months with any of the tools or scanners.”

“Guys, we are getting off track. I don’t want to focus on why it hasn’t done this before, but why is it doing this.” Mei says. She's exhausted and her brain hurts. She forgets that she's an adult now and can’t do what her teenage self did at night.

“What if the glowing lights are their own little aliens inside of the metal and they glow for the drill because they love the vibration so much?”

“Please go to bed, Yawara.”

Mei leans her head back and stares up at the ceiling. After finding progress in Alpha, they hit another roadblock. She knows they can get out of this funk, but why does this always happen?

Oh great and powerful Alpha, tell Mei your ways, Mei snorts at her thoughts and studies Alpha’s arm. It was so  _ human, _ there has to be a link between humans and the robot. Mei doesn’t think it has to do with chemical reactions or metal reacting badly to vibration, but the origins of Alpha. There has to be a reason why this happens. Humans react badly towards some shit too… wait.

That’s it.

Tomoko’s theory isn’t at all wrong, just a little off.

“Tomoko, can you repeat what you wait earlier?”

She glances at Mei in curiosity, but then puts her hand on her chin. “Alpha is unhappy from the constant vibration?”

“Yes! That’s exactly why this is happening!” Mei gestures to the robot and snaps her fingers. “You had the basic gist of it. Alpha itself is a robot, so it cannot feel emotion but it does recognize the fact that we are trying to probe at it.”

Shino huffs with irritation from Mei’s comment. “Your sentence is contradicting itself. How can a robot feel if its inorganic?”

Mei scrambles to get up and bolts over to the lab. She needs to find a bio-scanner so she can prove her theory, it’s the most logical explanation towards Alpha’s glowing lights. After searching around Tensei’s desk, she finds  _ a dinosaur _ of a scanner attached to a bulky computer and monitors. Guess this will have to work for now.

“I’ll prove it to you, Shino! Get your asses in here and help me set up these old bones!” Mei says with excitement. She carries out the monitor and places it on the table outside of the lab window. As she pulls the table closer to the limbs, it screeches in protest, echoing across the bay. The rest of her crew placed the tech on the table and hooked it up to each of the legs and arm.

The lights on Alpha start to dim when Tensei finishes up rebooting the computer and pulling up the scanner program. “Are you sure this is going to work? We could’ve just asked for a newer scanner.” Tensei says. Mei can tell he’s concerned for her well being, maybe thinking she's going crazy from lack of sleep. Joke’s on him, her record is ninety-six hours of no rest!

“Technology can be old and dated, but it will still produce the same results as the new models, right? Just trust me, Tensei.” Mei watches as Tensei opens his mouth to counter her, but then shuts it and nods.

“From what I’ve read, this is like a lie detector. The increase of spikes in the red zone,” Tensei points to the upper half of the screen, “Means that it is stressed or irritated. When there is small blue spikes or flat lining here in the middle, that means it is calm. I don’t know how this is going to react with the metal though, Mei.”

“I said trust me, Tensei. Are all monitors on Alpha?” Mei calls out to the group. She gets a thumbs up from the Pussycats and a nod from Anakuro. “Fire it up, Tensei!”

He flips a switch on the dusty control board and twists a dial. The bio-scanner hums to life and immediately starts to read out results. Red spikes are well into the middle of the screen, proving Mei’s theory that Alpha is agitated. She breathes out a small laugh as she reads the data, moving into hysterical laughter as the spikes starts to change color.  

Mei motions for the others to watch as the reports read out the decrease of stress while looking at Alpha. It’s lights dim even farther, and are completely out when the scanner reads a flat line.

Alpha is calm.

Tomoko grabs onto Mei’s shoulders and shakes them. She has a bright smile on her face, mirroring the rest of her colleagues. Anakuro surprises Mei with a group hug, all of them were laughing gloriously. Tensei shakes his head like he doesn’t believe what happened, but his small smile shows he is truly happy with the results. The seven of them stay like that for a while, until the computer promptly shorts out and dies. R.I.P. bio-scanner.

“So,” Ryuko begins, “What exactly does this mean?” Wow, way to kill the mood.

Mei sighs and pulls away from the group. “This means that Alpha is at least semi-active. It is definitely not alive, but active.”

“It has cognition like a human?” Tomoko asks. “Are you saying it’s similar to an AI?”

“Kind of,” Mei says, slowly nodding. “It’s a learning robot, I think, given the fact that the glowing stopped sooner than any of the other times.”

Tensei starts to take down the monitors for the scanner, “What do you think the glowing does for the robot?”

“We know it's caused by aggravation and stress, but the reason why. I don’t know, all I can think of is that it’s like how the human skin gets irritated after scratching it.”

“No, that’s not it,” Yawara frowns and bites his lip. He looks conflicted with his thoughts, like he doesn’t believe them himself. “Is it that the lights are a defense mechanism?”

Mei furrowed her brow as Yawara turns toward Alpha. “What do you mean?”

“You know how frogs puff up when a predator is nearby? Or porcupines shoot out their quills? What if Alpha’s lights are protecting it from harm?”

“Alpha is hiding their mechanical tech. They aren’t allowing anyone to get to them!” Tomoko snaps her fingers. She smiles and nods at Yawara as she gives him a high five. “Smart guy!”

Tensei shakes his head and leans against the table, “That can’t be possible. Even with the lights off, I was unable to get underneath Alpha’s metal.”

There’s silence for a moment, everyone thinking about Tensei’s statement. Mei hears someone’s phone go off and observes Shino leaving to go into the lab. As her steps retreat, Yawara breathes in hesitantly. “What if we are looking in the wrong place?”

Everyone stares at Yawara as he shifts from foot to foot. “It’s not a bad start.” Ryuko shrugs. “It’s worth a try.”

Mei contemplates the risks of restarting their investigation on what’s inside of Alpha. They would be farther behind on their search for more body parts, but they would be able to understand the way it works better. Or, if they do end of searching inside of Alpha, they would find nothing that they could understand. Worst possible outcome is that they can’t find another opening to Alpha’s limbs, and everything would be for nothing.

Mei weighs her options and shakes her head at her decision. It’s definitely a risk, but she’s willing to take it. As she opens her mouth to answer her crew, Shino gasps loudly with her phone close to her face. “Guys, there’s a problem.”

They rush into the lab and gather around Shino’s screen as she scrolls up quickly to the top of the article. “ Large Metallic Head Found - Relations to the Hand?”

Mei rubs her hands down her face, and listens as her colleagues read out the entire article. As Tensei finishes the last sentence, Mei mumbles, “Fuck,” before shit hits the fan.

 

* * *

 

“You know, it would probably be better if you went to the lunchroom to eat instead of here.”

Izuku snaps his head up at the sudden voice to see Uraraka smiling at him. First week at UA and he already has more friends than he had in Junior High. He smiles back at Uraraka and packs up his books. “Sorry, I’m not used to people waiting for me.”

Uraraka frowns and smacks Izuku on the shoulder, making his school supplies fall onto the floor. “Ah! Sorry, didn’t mean for that to happen.” She bends down to help him pick up his stuff. “What’s that supposed to mean! ‘Sorry, I’m not used to people waiting for me’?” She has a frown back on her face and smacks him, again, with one of his journals.

“I wasn’t that popular back in Junior High, Uraraka. Plus, I don’t know if you can tell, but I’m pretty introverted.” Izuku stops and raises his eyebrows at his new friend. She rolls her eyes as she shakes her head.

The two of them chatter as they pick up Izuku’s supplies, making the process slower than need be. Once they have everything picked up, Izuku notices he’s missing one of his journals. Shoot, did he lose his research journal agai-

“Hey, Midoriya!” Izuku whips his head around to who called his name. He sees one of his new classmates, Kirishima, waving his research journal in the air. “You missing this?”

Izuku grins and nods to Kirishima. “Yes! Thank you, I don’t know what I would’ve done if I lost it again.” Kirishima bounds over to Uraraka and Izuku and hands him the journal.

Uraraka gestures to the journal in confusion as Izuku places it in his backpack. “You’ve lost it before? Is that one of your hero notebooks?” Izuku pauses and pulls the journal back out again with a laugh.

“It’s, uh, just a side project I’m working on, I guess? Nothing to do with pro-heros, but about mechanics and metals.”

“Are you building something? I didn’t know you were into the sciences.”

“No, not really,” Izuku hesitates to tell them what he’s been researching. He’s was fascinated by the metallic hand and decided to make it a mini project. Researching on and off about special trackers to find rare metals or chemical components to make his own scanner. “It’s not your concern, guys.”

Kirishima throws an arm around Izuku’s shoulders and ruffles his hair. “Come on bud! You can’t say that and  _ not _ have me wondering what’s going on inside that notebook.” Izuku looks down at his journal and sighs. They were interested right? Maybe he should show them.

“Okay,” Izuku smiles as Kirishima and Uraraka high five each other over their success in peer-pressure. “But I want food first. You want to sit with us, Kirishima?”

“Hell yeah! I’ll meet you guys there!” Zipping out of the room, Kirishima runs into Bakugou. Izuku watches as Bakugou squabbles with Kirishima, the latter laughing and avoiding the other’s attacks. It was nice to see Kacchan with better friends, ones that will change him for better.

…

Inner turmoil aside, Izuku is taken aback at the intent stares Uraraka and Kirishima are giving him. “Guys, stop it. It’s creepy.”

“Then tell us about the notebook! What goes on inside that little green noggin of yours?”

Izuku shook his head with a smile and pulls out his journal. Their speedy friend, Iida Tenya, comes up to their regular lunch table with a questioning gaze. “I’m sorry if this is rude, but why is Kirishima sitting with us today?”

Waving off Iida’s comment, Kirishima shovels food into his mouth with a grin. “Mido-Bro is going to show us what’s inside his notebook!” Izuku ignores the “bro”, but Iida looks constipated as he mouths the word like he’s learning it for the first time. “He never shows anyone his notebook. So, I have to see this!”

He’s technically not wrong, people just happen to see what’s in his journals in the most inopportune times. So, by fault, Izuku has to explain to them what he’s written down, but no one has ever seen his “robot-alien” journal.

“Why have you decided to show us your journals now?” Iida says, frowning at Izuku.

“Well, these aren’t my hero notes. These notes are something I haven’t shown even my  _ mother _ .” Uraraka gasps at Izuku’s confession. Oh yeah, he means business. It’s a secret if even his own mother doesn’t know. “I can’t stress this enough, but  _ do not _ tell anyone about this.”

As soon as he gets an approval nod from the three, Izuku opens up his journal. It’s filled to the brim in his handwriting along with different pictures, maps, and cut outs from newspapers. The use and abuse of the papers would suggest that he’s had it for a long time, but it was only started four months ago.

“Do you guys know about the gigantic metal hand that was found seventeen years ago?” Izuku asks cautiously. Uraraka gives him a confused look and Kirishima’s face is unreadable, Iida is the only one the outright response with a, “Yes!”

“A giant metal hand was found in a square hole, three meters under the ground, by a twelve-year-old. Nothing was known about it and it was taken away by Japan-American forces to be tested.” Izuku gestures towards the first couple pages in his journal to Uraraka. “There are so few official articles on it, that I’ve had to scour the internet for more information. I’ve found some evidence that says The Hand might be connected to full robotic body.” He points at the notes and grainy pictures that are taped on the paper. Uraraka and Iida are intently nodding along to Izuku’s summary, but he can’t gauge Kirishima’s expression.

“Deku, you have all the stuff you’ve said only in the first section of this journal. What’s going on with the rest of it?” Uraraka says. Kirishima asks for her to pass along his journal, he buries his nose into the pages as soon as he gets it.

“Research. My main priority will always be my hero analysis, but I’ve been fascinated by how  _ unknown _ this is. I had to find out more. The articles and theories online could only do so much without physical evidence. So, I’ve been researching chemicals and elements that make up Earth metals.”

“What if this thing isn’t from Earth?” Kirishima finally speaks up. He sees that the spiky haired boy stopped on the page full of theories on alien life forms.

“Well, that’s what is the problem. But I kind of have a solution, or at least a couple of ideas. The four atomic elements that make up every living thing is oxygen, carbon, hydrogen and nitrogen. Of course, these are living beings, not ‘potential alien robots’. When the universe was created, it was made from something called The Big Bang. The Big Bang created many things that we know on Earth, or in our solar system. But the two original elements that this created was hydrogen and nitrogen. I don’t know if this would have anything to do with the compounds that make up The Hand, but it’s a step further from what I’ve read on the internet.” Izuku says watching his friends reactions. They seem to urge him on with their eyes, so he takes a big breath and continues on.

“There’s also the fact that everything is made up of a little bit of stardust. These two theories may be insignificant, and actually might be totally wrong. But I’ve learned the forty-third element on the periodic table, technetium, doesn’t occur naturally in this world. It’s radioactive and used mainly for medical purposes. But, when added to the compounds that make up steel, it’s a remarkable corrosion inhibitor for steel. Adding very small amounts can provide excellent protection. S _ omeone _ mixed elements of metals with technetium to create a ‘super robot’. With this revelation I had, I can only think that this is the most logical theory.”

His friends are silent among the bustling of the cafeteria. Izuku is now suddenly aware that he’s  _ literally telling them his biggest secret in a public place _ . Smooth move, way to use your brain. Izuku hears Kirishima grunt as he put down the journal. “What are planning on doing with all this information? You have all this research, so it has to be for something.”

“I want to able to find more parts of this robot, if there are any. There have been rumors of an arm and a leg found, but they aren’t from reliable new sources. My plan was to construct a scanner to find pieces, I don’t know how to.” Izuku shakes his head dejectedly. “I’m not good with mechanics, and honestly I’m mediocre with the sciences. So I’m doing the best I can with my brain-”

“I can help!” A loud slap to the table interrupts Izuku’s train of thought. Kirishima’s eyes are shiny brightly and he has a wide smile on his face. He feels like he’s had whiplash from how Kirishima was originally acting before. “I’ve been looking for someone who shares the same interest as me.”

Izuku gawks at the smiling boy along with his friends. “Y-you’ve researched The Hand?”

“Yes! I’ve been obsessed with extraterrestrials and life outside of Earth. So, it’s less of ‘cold-hard evidence’ and more theories with me. I wasn’t sure if you a believer or not, but now that I know you are a believer I want in!”

“I want in, too!” Uraraka says. She punches her fists in the air making several people stare in their direction. Iida pushes her arms back down to the table with a pat and turns to Izuku.

“I know my brother works in the Okinawa base where they are holding The Hand. I don’t know what he does there, but I can see what he knows about it.” He closes Izuku’s journal and passes it to him. “I could also help with mechanics. I’m not too terrible at it.”

Izuku takes the journal in awe and stares at his friends. They supported him, they care about his interests. No one has ever cared this much about him, not since Kacchan. He feels hot tears well up behind his eyes, but he swallows them back as he smiles at them. “Thank you. I look forward to working with you guys!”

Kirishima laughs heartily and pats Izuku’s back. “Don’t go all sappy on us, we need your logical head to come up with a plan!” The spiky haired boy frowns and rubs the scar on his eye in contemplation. “Did you see the newest article on The Hand conspiracy?”

“What! No? There’s been an official article?”

“Not exactly. I forgot where, but they found a gold head. It’s relative to the size The Hand, so they might be connected. The thing is, the article was take down  _ minutes  _ after being published and no one has screenshots because it was so sudden. But, my theory is that the head  _ doesn’t belong  _ to The Hand, but an entirely different robot…”

 

* * *

 

 

**Log Entry #12**

**Location: Phone Call from Okinawa Military Facility**

**Aizawa Shouta**

_ Hello, Mister Aizawa. _

Um, who is calling? And why do you know my name?

 

_ I’m the director of a military facility in Okinawa and I was wondering if you could spare some time- _

I’m hanging up.

 

_ No! No, Sir. I need you to listen to me. _

Why do I need to listen to someone who clearly won’t tell me their name?

 

_ My name is classified for your benefit, Aizawa. _

You say that to all the women you sleep with? They must love a good  _ mysterious  _ man, huh?

 

_ What you know about my love life is irrelevant to the discussion at hand. _

Look if you’re trying to sell me something the answer is no-

 

_ If you would just shut up so maybe you could find out why the hell I’m calling, hmm? _

Oh, Mister Mysterious-Man-on-the-Phone has a temper. Why should I listen to you? I have a life you know? I’m at work right now so I can’t talk-

 

_ You are currently out of work right now since the school day ends at three in the afternoon at UA. Plus, you are a homeroom teacher for Class 1-A, so you usually don’t have a lot on your plate, am I correct? _

*pause* How do you know this?

 

_ I know everything about you, Aizawa. Your inconsistent sleep schedule, where you live, absolutely everything. So I highly advise you listening to me at the moment. _

I could have you arrested for stalking me.

 

_ You cannot. I know people who could have you arrested for not complying with me. _

Who the hell do you think you are! You can’t just force me to listen to you!

 

_ Yes, I can and you will listen to me. _

You know what? Fine, I’ll listen to you. I’m too tired for this bullshit anyways. What do you want, asshole?

 

_ I’m the director of the Okinawa Military Facility holding The Hand that was found approximately seventeen years ago. Do you have any idea what I’m talking about? _

Of course, you expect me not to know about it? But didn’t the director of the project die or something? I thought the project was called off. 

 

_ I am the director of the project. The last “director” was a ruse that we made up for the public eye. Which is the reason why the public thinks it was “called off” due to the old “director” retiring. He found out about that his position has no benefits to him nor was anyone listening to him, therefore he retired. You see, I have done an exceptional job in this position, keeping the project’s advances out of the public ey- _

Please stop. I didn’t realize asking a simple question would just inflate your ego. Can you just get on with the conversation?

 

_ I would like to offer you a job over here at the Themis project. You would be working directly with The Hand and all of the other employees here.  _

A job working with robotics? Sir, I don’t think you get that I’m a  _ school teacher,  _ plus a pro-hero. I don’t have time nor the training for your job opening. 

 

_ You would be getting twice the pay as an employee here than both your teaching and hero job combined.  _

I’m not in financial trouble, mister. This doesn’t tempt me the slightest. I don’t want your job.

 

_ That’s not what your lifestyle suggests.  _

I  _ like  _ to live like this. Why do people always have to judge me on where I live?

 

_ You live in a run-down apartment complex that has mold growing everywhere. It’s not healthy for you, Aizawa.  _

Oh yeah? What do you suggest then?

 

_ Joining our team. We have recently relocated and now the Themis Project workers live in housing units all over the base.  _

They get to live like university students again in dorm rooms? No thanks.

 

_ I’m surprised with that reaction, considering you were complaining about your living conditions to your cat the other day. You never do leave the house, do you? _

You know what, I’m just going to ignore the fact that you just insulted me. What would I even do at the base? It’s not like I’m super smart.

 

_ Why do you think I want you here?  _

Uh, I don’t know? This is the strangest call regarding a job I’ve ever gotten in my life.

 

_ Think about how you work your pro-hero job. What is it you do? _

I think with my brain rather than my fist,  _ unlike some people I know _ . 

 

_ Exactly! I want you out here because of your researching abilities. You do well with innovative thinking from what I’ve seen of you. You may not be book smart, but you are suited towards theoretic and statistical research.  _

...Never thought about it like that. You know what, maybe I will join you guys!

 

_ Really? That took a lot less convincing than I thought- _

No. Not really. This is stupid. I’m not giving up being a teacher to be a theoretical researcher. This is a sketchy job, this is a sketchy conversation. You are a conniving human, someone who manipulates everyone into doing their bid. Fuck you. Fuck your job. Leave me alone. 

 

_ I guess I will call you back later then. _

No! You won’t! Leave me alone! What will it take to make you not call me again?

 

_ You taking up my  _ extremely generous _ offer, Aizawa. _

You know what, if I keep your project a secret will you go away?

 

_ I will not promise that. _

I’m hanging up. I’m done with this. 

**_*Click*_ **

**End Transmission**

**Author's Note:**

> For people who have read the Themis Files, it’s NOT going to be exactly like the series. There will be canon divergence and stuff I will not put in. It may be an AU but it is not going to be like the series AT ALL. If you have any concerns, feel free to tell me. 
> 
> Thank you to my beta, Sketchbookist!
> 
> You can find me on my tumblr, Sockbootoo, to ask me questions and such!


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